Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Gumbet & Bodrum, Weather, Trips |
| Disadvantages: |
Hotel Room, Delays, Airport Prices |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
The below review is an overview of my holiday to Gumbet Turkey, staying in Litera Royal Marin resort, traveling with Goldtrail holidays in May 2008 for 1 week. Holiday cost around £300 each all inclusive booked 2 weeks before.
> Onur Air
The flight was delayed by 1 hour outbound and inbound. Onur Air do not charge extra for leg room seats so when checking in its worth asking for row 12 to get the extra leg room. Flight attendants were polite and helpful although did not understand much English. It was very hard to understand any of the announcements or the safety instructions. No on flight entertainment so take a book or MP3 player to keep yourself occupied. They sold drinks, a small selection of sandwiches and duty free. A small packet of Pringles cost £2.50 and a can of coke cost £2. They accepted Turkish Lira, Euros or Sterling.
> Goldtrail Holidays
Got to the bus for the transfer and had to wait 1 hour for the rep to come to take us to the resort. This was not good in the early hours of the morning. Our hotel rep was fine, he made sure we got a new room when complaining and was not pushy with selling trips. Main problem was that our return flight was due to take off at 6pm and they told us we had to be at the meeting point for 12:50. (Bearing in mind all inclusive lunch began at 1). Transfer time was only 45 minutes. We felt this was a bit early to pick us up. They ended up being 1 hour late. Please be aware that Goldtrail rate their own hotels. Teletext stated it was a 5 Star resort, when complaining about our rooms the rep told us they are not 5 Star they are 5 Suns! It was more like a 2-3 Star however this is what we were expecting based on previous reviews written online about the hotel.
> Litera Royal Marin Resort
As already mentioned the resort is advertised as 5 star however it is not. I would have been very disappointed had paid full price for this holiday. We saw 4 room in total. Room 105 was the first room which smelt of damp, plaster was falling off the walls, when we opened the window we could see a building being built in front of us and had the smell of sewage. There were dubious brown stains on the carpet by the bed. The next two rooms were slightly better but still smelt and had other faults. We finally ended up in an internal room, we had 1 internal window that looked out over the corridor, however it didn't smell and it was clean (Apart from a red stain on the bedding top sheet) so we took it. Many of the guests were complaining about the rooms. Don't expect to get a balcony with a decent view although some exist. The beds were comfortable, plenty of cupboard space. We had a TV with a few English TV shows on them and hair dryer. You had to pay extra for air conditioning and safe which I thought was a cheek as it was supposed to be 5 Star. The rooms are all under reception and the lower levels are called the dungeon!
The facilities in the hotel were good and included and indoor and outdoor swimming pool, Spa (extra charges applied), gym, TV room, private beach and beautiful views over Gumbet.
The hotel offered a free shuttle bus to the beach. It is a very steep hill to climb. There is a bar where you can get drinks (free with all inclusive tags) and you walk down some steps to free sunbeds. The beach is gravel rather than sand. We found a few nicer spots a bit further down the beach.
Please be aware about health and safety in the resort. The hotel is not suitable for those with walking difficulties. A lift does not go down to all of the rooms and they were also frequently braking down. Some buttons were broken as was the flooring. There were power cuts at times - not good in an internal room! One day they had a shooting competition and the waiters were walking in front of the gun and they were waving it about loaded.
The food was ok. Luckily I'm not a fussy eater however if you are then you have trouble finding something to eat. For the first 2 days the only meat we saw was frankfurters and spicy spam like ham eugh. The food did get better though and there was plenty of it. There were lots of vegetables, salads and pasta. The bread was lovely, as were the puddings yum yum! Meal times were 8-10 breakfast, 10-11 late breakfast, 1 - 2.30 lunch, 2.30 - 5 snacks by the pool, 7.30 - 10 dinner. All inclusive drinks were available from the pool from 10am till 11pm.
The entertainment was not that good but they tried. Most people were aged late 20s - 60's although most of the music they played was aimed at a younger audience. There were 2 nights with belly dancers, a snake charmer, break dancers. They showed a film one night and the football was on the other. They also did bingo and a jewelry lottery that cost extra. The music quiz was free. The animations team could be hard to understand at times but this made it all the funnier. If you want better entertainment id go into the local town Gumbet.
> Gumbet & Bodrum
Small buses ran from Bodrum around Gumbet and up to the hotel every 15 minutes 24 hours a day,7 days a week. They cost 2 Lira each way no matter how far you traveled. Just put your hand up and they will stop anywhere. When you get to Bodrum you arrive in a bus park where you can get buses to other places.
Gumbet was a nice place to walk around, had a nice beach and small harbor. When we drove through it at night the pubs and bars seemed livelier than those in Bodrum. We went shopping in Bodrum one evening and we found we were hassled less than in the day. The harbor in Bodrum is much larger than Gumbet.
The area is really nice and I would go back, just in a different hotel.
> Trips
Don't book trips with your rep, walk into Gumbet and book them. There are loads of tour agents selling the same trips and you can get them much cheaper, remember to haggle.
We went on the Dolphin trip. It cost about £40 each and it was great to swim with dolphins. The boat trip was great value costing just £8 each, this included lunch and 5 stops for swimming. One of the stops you went to camel beach and could ride a camel for 10 Lira. You don't go far on the camel ride but its good to say you have done it. They are muzzled so cant bite or spit. We also went to one of the local markets and this cost about £3. The market was great however most of the popular trips are sponsored by the tourist board. This means they make you go around other places before your destination like gold, carpet and Turkish delight producers.
> Bodrum Airport
When you arrive you are charged £10 to get into the country. Make sure you each have a £10 note ready for when you get there. TAKE WATER AND FOOD WITH YOU TO THE AIRPORT. They charge ridiculous prices for food and drink in the airport. Eg £4 for a can of coke/bottle of water. Other than that the airport was fine, 2 duty free shops and a couple of restaurants after security. Turkey is now non smoking so be aware if you are a smoker that after you walk in you cannot smoke till you get back to the UK.
Top Tips
- Haggle for almost everything. They tell you in Turkey to start at half price and you will strive a deal between half and full price. I advise that you start at quarter price, be cheeky with the shop keeper and then you will get things for just under half in most cases. Remember if you go to low you know you need to go higher in the next shop.
- Most places except Turkish Lira, Euros and sterling. Most items in Bodrum are priced in Euros so if you make your own currency converters put all three currencies on it. You'll need some Lira for the buses.
- If you decide to have a Turkish bath, do it in the first few days.
- Take your own food and drink to Bodrum airport.
- When it says 5 Star don't believe it till you see it, expect a 2-3 star.
- Buy trips in the towns rather than from the rep.
- Take your own entertainment for the plane journey.
- Shop keepers will hassle you to buy. We told them when browsing that we were not buying anything till the end of the week - this worked quite well to stop the hassle.
- Remember the holiday is what you make of it.
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